Railroad hopper car door actuating mechanism

ABSTRACT

An actuating system for operating the doors of a railroad hopper car. The mechanism includes an air cylinder which is coupled to a first lever that is fixed on a shaft. The shaft is coupled to a second shaft through a pair of levers. Supplying air to the cylinder causes the first lever to rotate the shaft which causes the second shaft to rotate. The doors of the hopper are coupled to the two shafts, such that when the shafts rotate, the doors open from the hopper.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims benefit from U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/646,938, filed Jan. 25, 2005, and 60/652,601, filed Feb. 14, 2005, which applications are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention is directed in general to a device for opening the hopper doors of a railroad car, and, in particular, to a system for automatically opening and closing the hopper doors of a railroad car.

2. Description of the Related Art

A common type of railroad freight car in use today is the freight car of the type wherein the load is discharged through hoppers in the underside of the body. Such cars are generally referred to as hopper cars and are used to haul coal, phosphate and other commodities.

After hopper cars are spotted over an unloading pit, the doors of the hoppers are opened, allowing the material within the hopper to be emptied into the pit.

Hopper cars, which may be covered, are usually found with one of two hopper configurations: transverse, in which the doors closing the hoppers are oriented perpendicular to the center line of the car; or longitudinal, in which the doors closing the hoppers are oriented parallel to the center line of the car. An example of a hopper car with transverse doors is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,249,531, while an example of a hopper car with longitudinal doors is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,224,877.

Prior art references which teach operating mechanisms for opening and closing hopper doors include U.S. Pat. No. 3,596,609; 4,741,274; 3,187,684; 3,611,947; 3,786,764; 3,815,514; 3,818,842; 3,949,681; 4,222,334; 4,366,757; 4,601,244; 5,823,118; and 5,249,531. There are several disadvantages to the hopper door operating mechanisms described in some of the aforementioned patents. One problem is that some of the prior art mechanisms are designed such that each actuating mechanism is connected to doors from two separate hoppers. Thus, if the mechanism fails, it effects the operation of two hoppers. Another disadvantage of some of the above described hopper door mechanisms is that the operating mechanisms limit the distance of the door motion, thus limiting the open area of the car's bottom. This arrangement slows the unloading process and causes additional costs and potential damage to the car due to increased periods in thaw sheds. However, many of these systems usually require automatic operation of the doors, which requires an operating cylinder and valving.

Finally, it is often desirable to empty the contents of a railcar while the car is in motion, thus allowing the car to be emptied quicker. This method of operation also normally requires the use of expensive air cylinders and valving.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an actuating mechanism which allows the discharge doors of a hopper car to open and close automatically.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a simple automatic mechanism for actuating the discharge doors of a hopper car which can quickly empty the contents.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide an actuating mechanism for a hopper car which can be used on longitudinal doors.

These and other objects of the present invention will be more readily apparent from the descriptions and drawings which follow.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a standard three pocket hopper car having a single transverse door associated with each hopper which is capable of using the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an elevational view of hopper car having a longitudinal door set which is capable of using the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the mechanism of the present invention shown without the hoppers and air cylinder;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the mechanism of the present invention taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the mechanism of the present invention taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the mechanism of the present invention taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a view of the mechanism of the present invention taken along line 7-7 of FIG. 3 with the air cylinder removed;

FIG. 8 is a plan view of the mechanism of the present inventions shown in the closed position;

FIG. 9 is a plan view of the mechanism of FIG. 6 shown in the open position;

FIG. 10 is a plan view of another embodiment of the present invention in the process of opening;

FIG. 11 is another view of the embodiment of FIG. 8 in which the doors have opened further;

FIG. 12 is a plan view of another embodiment of the present invention in the closed position;

FIG. 13 is a sectional view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 10.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIGS. 1-2 display two different major types of hopper cars. FIG. 1 shows hopper cars using transverse doors, while FIG. 2 shows a car using longitudinal doors.

Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a typical three pocket railway hopper car, generally designated at 2, which may be equipped with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Car 2 is provided with a plurality of hopper units 4, a plurality of wheels 5, and a longitudinally extending center sill 6. Wheels 5 are mounted on a series of truck axles 7. Each hopper unit 4 is provided with a door 9 which is moveable to open and close each hopper unit 4. An actuating system for this type of car is taught in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/863,887, filed Jun. 8, 2004, which application is incorporated herein by reference.

Referring now to FIG. 2, there is shown a typical hopper railcar, generally indicated at 10, having longitudinal doors which may be equipped with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Car 10 is provided with a longitudinal door set 12, a plurality of wheels 14, and a longitudinally extending center sill 16. An operating system for this type of hopper car is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 6,955,126, issued Oct. 28, 2005, which patent is incorporated herein by reference. Although the system taught in this patent teaches the operation of a single pair of doors, the mechanism can be used to open multiple sets of longitudinal doors.

FIG. 3 shows the mechanism of the present invention for use with a single longitudinal hopper for a railroad car. A car could have several of these hoppers mounted along the bottom. Brackets 20 are affixed to the doors (FIG. 4) of a hopper 21 (FIG. 4). The doors 22 are rotatably coupled to the frame of the railroad car at 23 to cover the hopper. A shaft 24 is coupled for rotation within brackets 20 in one door 22 while a shaft 26 is coupled for rotation within brackets 20 on a second hopper door 22. A lever 28 is rigidly affixed to shaft 24 on either end of hopper 21. A lever 30 is rigidly affixed to shaft 26 at either end of hopper 21. The opposite ends of levers 28 and 30 are coupled together for rotation by a set of pins 32. The central region of shaft 20 has a cutout section 34 for accommodating shaft 24 when the doors are in their closed position. At the end of shaft 24, a lever 36 is affixed; the other end of lever 36 is coupled to an air cylinder 38. Air cylinder 38 consists of sleeve 40 and a shaft 42. Shaft 42 telescopes within sleeve 40 as air cylinder 38 is operated. Sleeve 40 is rotatably coupled to an extension 44 fixed to the frame of the railcar by a pin 46. Shaft 42 is rotatably coupled to shaft 36 at its end opposite shaft 24 by a pin 48.

FIG. 4 shows the hopper doors of the present invention in the closed position while FIG. 9 shows the doors in the open position. In order to open the doors, air cylinder 38 is activated, causing shaft 42 to extend from sleeve 40, as can bee seen in FIG. 9. This action causes pin 32 to shift upwardly and also causes lever 36 to rotate in the counterclockwise direction, causing shaft 24 to rotate. This causes lever 28 to rotate in a counterclockwise direction, also causing lever 30 to rotate. This causes shaft 26 to rotate, unlocking the overcenter mechanism, opening doors 22 and causing the contents of hopper 21 to be emptied. The mechanism on each side of hopper 21 operate simultaneously. Closure of the doors is accomplished by reversing the operation of air cylinder 38.

FIGS. 10-13 show another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, a pair of door stops 50 have been added to limit the travel of the doors when opening. As can be seen in FIG. 11, one door reaches the door stop 50 before the other door. Note that an extension 52 is located on each door positioned to contact each stop 50. These stops are adjustable. This allows the load to be discharged to be balanced in rate of flow.

FIG. 12 shows the doors of FIGS. 10-11 to which a stabilizer bar 54 has been added, connecting doors 22 together. Bar 54 may have an adjustable length, and can control the rate of the doors opening. This allows the force of the load in the hopper to be balanced for stability. 

1) A railroad hopper car of the type having a pair of doors closing each hopper, comprising: a body containing at least one hopper; a pair of door covering said hopper; a pair of rotatable shafts each connected to one of said doors; a pair of levers rotatably coupled together, with the other ends fixed to said shafts; a drive lever, fixed on one end to one of said shafts; and an air cylinder, coupled to the other end of said drive lever; such that when said air cylinder is actuated, said drive lever rotates said shaft, causing said doors to rotate from the closed position to the open position. 2) The car of claim 1, wherein the doors are coupled together by a stabilizer bar. 3) The car of claim 2, wherein said stabilizer bar is adjustable. 